Category Archives: air water quality

New Year’s Day River Patrol

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We started out the new gregorian year with a fun and safe patrol of the Harlem River, Bronx Kill and small part of the East River. It was a warm January 1st, but with the snow still along the banks, especially along the lovely coast of Randall’s Island. On the Bronx side of the Kill we saw a pheasant flying thru this special Nature corridor.

paddling bronx kill in the snow

Also, due to the low tide we were able to see a number of seemingly unofficial pipes discharging from Randall’s Island. In addition, the Con Ed Electric cable that is a navigational obstacle with the right tide has a crumbled foundation. The metal holding it up has rotted entirely.
Rotted foundation of Con Ed cables across Bronx Kill

Please contact NYCDOT and explain that this structure is now an imminent danger and needs to be removed.
Click here to contact the Commissioner.
Thanks!

Harlem RiverWatch, a project of Friends of Brook Park

Protecting Water Quality

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FoBP has been busy around the region lately, advancing the issues of clean water and access to our waterways in a number of important forums. We attended two invitation only events with profound implications for our water quality.

We represented Bronx Council on Environmental Quality at the Pace University Law School NYS Water Policy Conference where we able to question Kit Kennedy of the NYS Attorney General’s Office about the need to ban gas drilling in the State, and the navigability of the Bronx Kill.
On September 30th we testified at the NYS Senate Standing Committee on Environmental Conservation Chaired by Senator Antoine M. Thompson with local Senator Bill Perkins in attendance. We made several recommendations to ease the regulatory process for mollusk and wetlands habitat restoration, the need for budget increases to the NYSDEC EJ grants program and for greater equity in the NYSEPF allocation. Mostly, we pressed for a total ban on the dangerous gas drilling that is proposed in New York State. Learn more here:

http://www.shaleshock.org/

Groups Urge a Moratorium on City Use of Artificial Turf

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Print the attached letter and send it to the Mayor about this important issue!

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Several environmental and civic groups are calling for a moratorium on the use of artificial turf in new sports fields in the city, and question the seriousness with which the Bloomberg administration is investigating the turf’s potential hazards.

In a letter to the city’s parks and health commissioners, dated Thursday, the groups say the installation of such fields should be suspended pending the results of a review of health risks being conducted by the health department.

“The city has a responsibility to protect children, and a vested interest in protecting the environment,” the letter states. “Yet even as evidence suggested that artificial turf may pose health risks and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene initiated its review, the Parks Department continued to make plans to install dozens more artificial-turf fields. The Parks Department has shown little interest in studying artificial turf’s effects on health and the environment.”

The letter adds, “This brings into question the agencies’ commitment to conducting a thorough health and safety review of artificial turf.”

The call for a moratorium is part of a growing concern among parents, public health officials and environmentalists about synthetic-turf fields. Thousands of the fields have been installed nationwide in recent years, including 77 in the city during the past decade. Twenty-three more are planned.

from:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/nyregion/29turf.html

Water and Air Quality Testing Threatened

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Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council are rushing to push through
a bill, 2007 Intro 650, which would require police department -
issued permits for anyone or organization to possess
environmental monitoring equipment or to conduct environmental
investigations with instrumentation to measure air or water
pollutants, radiation, or biological contamination. If such
police department permit is not issued, the perpetrator has
committed a misdemeanor. There are all kinds of impediments in
the bill to persons other than City officials owning or using
environmental monitoring equipment. This quashes scientific and
educational investigations, making the government the sole
authority in assessing the health of our air and water.

This is a serious move on the part of the NYC Council to hinder
environnmental assessments, even by environmental engineers who
serve our patients by identifiying toxic exposures. Please
distribute this widely.

Here are excerpts of the language of the bill:
It shall be unlawful for any person to possess or deploy a
biological, chemical or radiological detector in the city of New
York unless such person holds a valid permit therefor, provided
that the commissioner in his or her discretion may exclude by
rule any class or type of biological, chemical or radiological
detector that shall not require such permit because requiring a
permit therefor would not further the purposes of this chapter.

While the proliferation of these capabilities may represent a
positive development in furthering public safety, such
instruments should be deployed and operated only with the
knowledge of the Police Department and other appropriate City
agencies. Moreover, the City has an interest in the reliability
and effectiveness of these instruments so that their deployment
will not cause excessive false alarms and unwarranted anxiety
that a large-scale public emergency is occurring. Therefore, the
Council finds that, to further the public safety, the possession
and deployment of biological, chemical and radiological detectors
should be regulated by the issuance of permits and the
promulgation of standards for such detectors and their use, and
that alarms triggered by such detectors should be immediately
reported according to prescribed procedures.

Here’s the very short, very damaging bill:

http://webdocs.nyccouncil.info/textfiles/Int%200650-2007.htm?CFID\
=1037835&CFTOKEN=99377284

I understand that there may be another hearing within the next
few days and that the Mayor and City Council Speaker want to push
this through this coming week. For the time being, the New York
Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) is serving
as the point organization for those organizations and scientists
who are against this bill. Their contact information is: Dave
Newman, (212) 227-6440, dave@nycosh.org. Their testimony is at:
http://www.nycosh.org/pdf/NYC_council_Joint_Testimony1_08_08.pdf
>

We don’t have much time. Please forward this widely and
especially to national, professional organizations if you have
contacts there.

Please send comments or suggestions on Int 650 to Massiel Garcia
in the Mayor’s Office of City Legislative Affairs,
MGarcia@cityhall.nyc.gov, and please copy Alix Pustilnik, Deputy
Director, City Council Government Operations Division, at
Legpusti@council.nyc.gov.

Maggie Clarke, Ph.D.
www.MaggieClarkeEnvironmental.com
Environmental
Scientist, Educator
mclarke@hunter.cuny.edu